what is the role of the media in society?

The Affects of the Media on Society

The term media can be defined as a wide variety of things . For the purpose of this , it will be defined as the American Heritage Dictionary defines it as .an agency , by which something is accomplished , conveyed , or transferred (2000 . The media 's role in society is an extremely prevalent especially in today 's day and age . The media has continuously been used as a scapegoat for the lack of other excuses for abnormal behaviors in America 's teenagers . This was obvious with the

April 1999 shooting at Columbine High School near Denver , CO . The media is the easiest and most common thing to blame for teen 's behavior . Their video games , their music , everything that they listen to or watch on their own time is to blame for their behaviors rather than poor parenting , lack of support at school or lack of noticing on anybody 's behalf that something was wrong with these two boys

Columbine is the number one instance that pops into our minds from recent memory when we contemplate the notion of media affecting our society and our societal behaviors . It was taken to the point that Marilyn Manson was being interrogated in regards to how he felt about the massacre . Parents , teachers and community members alike all believed that his music had a major influence on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold the two gunmen , and their actions that day in April . To this day , it is still a widely debated subject as to what caused these two teenagers to kill twelve of their classmates and one of their teachers before killing themselves

As far as teen behavior in general goes , it is common that society blames the media for the actions of the youth even when they as a society are the ones that create the media and the guidelines for it to be presented to the youths . Video games are the main thing that society is blaming , but television shows such as Jackass ' and Viva La Bam are holding their own in the lineup of things to blame . Teenagers are in a moldable , mutable state in the first place without being influenced by images of idiocy and lack of respect for everything . Thus , the reason behind why parents are putting their foot down in regards to video games such as Vice City ' and the recent "Super Columbine Massacre RPG

The creators of the video game Super Columbine Massacre RPG ' are not just sitting back listening to the criticism of their game . They have something to say about the reason it exists in the first place . They say .This game is intended to deepen the understanding of the shooting and its possible causes . What the player takes out of it is ultimately dependant upon what the player puts into it (Ledonne , 2005 . It is easy to blame video games for abnormal behaviors , but in reality , people are just indirectly blaming themselves . Society demands a...